Sandra Beth Geisel: CBA Scandal, Guilty Plea, and Sentencing

Sandra Beth Geisel is a former Christian Brothers Academy teaching assistant who pleaded guilty in 2005 to third-degree rape for sexual encounters with a 16-year-old student at the all-boys Catholic school in Colonie, New York. She was sentenced to six months in jail, ten years of probation, and lifetime registration as a sex offender. Now living in Arkansas under the name Sandra Beth Rodgers, she is a defendant in a civil trial scheduled to begin January 27, 2027, brought by three former students under New York’s Child Victims Act.¹

Geisel, who went by “Beth,” was 42 at the time of the offenses and worked as an English teaching assistant and writing instructor at CBA while her own son attended the school. She was the estranged wife of Thomas Geisel, then the regional president of KeyBank in Albany.²

How the Case Came to Light

A Cohoes police officer approached a car around 4 a.m. in the summer of 2005 after it had sat for more than two hours with its lights on. Inside, the officer found Geisel partially clothed in the back seat with a naked 17-year-old CBA student. The student said he was 18 and Geisel said she was “in her 30s.” After consulting a supervisor, the officer determined the student was at the age of consent under New York law and sent him home with his father.¹

CBA fired Geisel on June 10, 2005, after learning of the incident. The investigation that followed uncovered sexual encounters with two other students, including a 16-year-old. According to prosecutors, those encounters took place in May 2005 at Geisel’s home and in the press box of the CBA football field. The 16-year-old came forward during the police inquiry.³

The Charges and Guilty Plea

Geisel turned herself in to Colonie Police in early August 2005 and was released on $20,000 bail.⁴ An Albany County grand jury indicted her on September 9, 2005, on three counts of rape and one count of sexual misconduct, all involving the 16-year-old.⁵ No charges were brought over the two 17-year-olds, who were at or above New York’s age of consent.⁶ Under New York Penal Law § 130.25, third-degree rape is a Class E felony that applies when a person 21 or older engages in sexual conduct with someone under 17.⁷

While out on bail that August, Geisel was arrested for driving while intoxicated. Her bail was revoked and she was jailed pending resolution of the case.⁸ On September 27, 2005, she pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree rape and one misdemeanor DWI count, resolving all pending charges. Her attorney, Donald Kinsella, said she accepted the deal because a trial “would hurt her family.”⁹ Geisel had initially claimed the 16-year-old forced the encounter, but abandoned that defense as part of the plea. She faced up to four years in prison on each count had the case gone to trial.

Sentencing and the Judge’s Remarks

On November 21, 2005, Albany County Judge Stephen Herrick sentenced Geisel to six months in jail with credit for time served, ten years of supervised probation, residential alcohol treatment, and sex offender registration.³

The sentencing became national news because of what Herrick said from the bench. He told Geisel, “You crossed the line from teacher to consort, and that’s totally unacceptable,” then characterized her as someone who “misunderstood attention as affection and failed to realize you were being manipulated and sexually abused.” He described the 16-year-old as “a victim in the statutory sense only,” adding, “he was certainly not victimized by you in any other sense of the word.”⁵

The remarks drew sharp public criticism. Attorney Paul Freeman, speaking for the victim’s family, called the judge’s statement that Geisel was the one sexually abused “an outrage.” Albany County District Attorney David Soares said, “The idea that he didn’t see any of the young boys as victims is offensive.”³

The Pending Civil Lawsuits

Nearly two decades after the criminal case, the three former students sued Geisel and Christian Brothers Academy under New York’s Child Victims Act, a 2019 law that temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for civil actions involving the sexual abuse of minors. The plaintiffs, now in their 30s, allege that Geisel was a sexual predator and that CBA was negligent in failing to prevent the abuse, and they say they suffered “catastrophic and lifelong injuries.” Geisel is being sued individually for assault and battery, among other claims.¹

What the school knew is a central dispute. CBA officials say they had no knowledge of any sexual encounters before the Cohoes police incident and fired Geisel as soon as they learned of it. William Atkinson, a former assistant principal for student affairs who served at CBA from 1981 to 2014, filed an affidavit stating no administrator had prior knowledge. One of the three plaintiffs alleges, however, that the school knew about his specific encounters with Geisel several weeks before police found her in the car with the 17-year-old.¹

In August 2024, state Supreme Court Justice Justin Corcoran denied a motion to split the three cases into separate trials, ruling that they should proceed together. CBA’s insurance carrier has reportedly declined to settle. Geisel, who now goes by Sandra Beth Rodgers and lives in Arkansas, is representing herself, citing physical and financial limitations. Trial is set for January 27, 2027.¹

1
Times Union. Decades After CBA Sex Scandal, Trial Looms
2
New York Post. Teach’s Hubby Flees, Ducking Sex Probers
3
CBS News. Sparks Fly in Teacher Sex Case
4
Troy Record. Attorney: Teacher May Have Been Victim
5
New York Post. Sex Teach Judge Slams Her Victims
6
Sun Journal. Judge Says Teacher in Sex Scandal Manipulated by Students
7
New York State Senate. Penal Law Section 130.25 – Rape in the Third Degree
8
Troy Record. Ex-CBA Teacher Indicted for Rape, Criminal Sex
9
Bishop Accountability. Geisel Agrees to Plea Deal